In this Nov. 16, 2013 file photo, Producer George Lucas speaks at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles. The "Star Wars" creator Lucas has selected Chicago to house his much anticipated museum of art and movie memorabilia.

Photo: Dan Steinberg, Associated Press

In this Nov. 16, 2013 file photo, Producer George Lucas speaks at...

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In this March 1976 publicity photo released by Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM, director George Lucas and actor Mark Hamill, who portrayed young Luke Skywalker, are shown on the salt flats of Tunisia during principal photography of the original "Star Wars."

Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press

In this March 1976 publicity photo released by Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM,...

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This Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013, file photo, shows an aerial view at night of the downtown Chicago skyline. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas has selected Chicago to build his museum of art and movie memorabilia.

Photo: Kiichiro Sato, Associated Press

This Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013, file photo, shows an aerial view at...

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In this Jan. 23, 2011 file photo, football fans tailgate in a parking lot south of Soldier Field, in the background, before a Chicago Bears game in Chicago. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered up a slice of real estate along the Lake Michigan shorefront to Lucas, meaning fans dressed up as Han Solo and Darth Vader might have to cross paths with rowdy Bears tailgaters.

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press

In this Jan. 23, 2011 file photo, football fans tailgate in a...

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Presidio Trust Board of Directors Chair, Nancy Hellman Bechtle announcesto the media that the Crissy Field site is not considering any of the three proposal at this time, Monday February 3, 2014, in San Francisco, Calif. George Lucas wants to build a museum, another group wants to build a cultural center and a third group wants an environmental research institute.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

Presidio Trust Board of Directors Chair, Nancy Hellman Bechtle...

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In this Nov. 16, 2013 file photo, filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Chicago native Mellody Hobson, are seen on the red carpet at the 2013 Governors Awards in Los Angeles. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel persuaded the "Star Wars" creator to put his planned museum of art and movie memorabilia in Chicago and is offering up a slice of real estate along the Lake Michigan shorefront where it would be located.

The revised design of George Lucas' proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum keeps the classical look that was part of the original proposal last fall, but such ceremonial touches as a large dome above the entrance have been reduced.

Photo: Lcam, LCAM

The revised design of George Lucas' proposed Lucas Cultural Arts...

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The one-story alternative submitted to the Presidio Trust by George Lucas for his proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum at Crissy Field.

Photo: Lcam

The one-story alternative submitted to the Presidio Trust by George...

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The Lucas Cultural Arts Museum seen from Crissy field.

Photo: Lucas Cultural Arts Museum

The Lucas Cultural Arts Museum seen from Crissy field.

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The proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum at Crissy Field would include an outdoor terrace.

Photo: Lucas Cultural Arts Museum

The proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum at Crissy Field would...

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George Lucas wanted to build new cultural arts museum in the Presidio.

Now that George Lucas has selected Chicago as the preferred home of his still-vague "museum of narrative art," Mayor Ed Lee is painting the Presidio Trust as the culprit who chased the "Star Wars" creator out of town.

Not a chance. The real culprit - at least in the final months of competition between two compelling cities - is a political culture that views our landscape and waterfront only through a political lens. Instead of planning ahead, City Hall of late has pinned its hopes on one overhyped project after another.

While Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel methodically assembled a well-connected task force to explore sites within his city that might captivate the billionaire filmmaker, Lee made no public gesture in Lucas' direction until early May. That's two months after the trust decided that neither Lucas nor his competitors should be awarded a scenic setting across from the marsh at Crissy Field.

As for the offer to Lucas of a 2.3-acre parcel of land across the Embarcadero from Piers 30-32, it was made in a letter from Lee on May 29 - two weeks after Emanuel's committee released its 56-page report analyzing 57 sites before recommending 17 acres on Lake Michigan.

Lee had been in the Lucas camp from the start, signing a letter that was included with Lucas' formal proposal to the trust last September. But in the high-voltage tug-of-war that followed, the mayor was nowhere to be seen - Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Nancy Pelosi were the politicians who kept pushing in Lucas' behalf.

"The mayor of Chicago is working hard to bring the Lucas museum to his city, so we need to settle the issue promptly in our favor," said their April 25 letter. "So instead of unnecessary discussion and uncertainty, let's get on with it and welcome the museum here."

Two days later, former Mayor Willie Brown raised the ante in his Chronicle column - saying the collection of vintage art and digital animation would be ideal on Piers 30-32 as "a tourist magnet and a great addition to the waterfront."

Only then did Lee's inner circle realize the genial mayor was being outflanked by "Rahmbo," the latest in a line of Chicago politicians who understand the need to make things to happen rather than wait to see what falls in your lap.

Suddenly there were Lee's letters to Lucas and a birthday phone call. A full-page newspaper ad and a banner at City Hall.

The sense of political opportunism extended to the site offered to Lucas on May 29: a parking lot just south of the Bay Bridge that had been part of the proposed Warriors' arena complex. The basketball team shifted its sights to Mission Bay in April and left behind a void. Who better to help fill it than a retired visionary who had been eager at the Presidio to spend $700 million to build and endow a personal museum?

Gloating in Chicago

Now, Chicago power brokers are gloating and Lee and his supporters are in spin control mode.

The mayor issued a statement after Lucas' decision in favor of Chicago was made public Tuesday complaining that the trust, by thwarting Lucas' desire for Crissy Field, "put San Francisco's chance at landing the museum in jeopardy." Investor Ron Conway, tech's self-appointed voice at City Hall, fumed that the Presidio Trust "kept the Lucas Museum from being built in San Francisco, despite the valiant efforts of a diverse group of city leaders to keep it here."

Feinstein went even further in a statement released Wednesday - not only complaining about "how George Lucas has been treated by the Presidio Trust Board" but stating, "I hope this incident leads to a thorough review and overhaul of the procedures used by the Trust."

Here's the catch, everyone: The Presidio isn't just a scenic nook within the boundaries of San Francisco. It is part of the National Park Service. It is a National Historic Landmark District. The trust's board is appointed to oversee an American treasure, not a local jobs incubator.

And when Lucas was asked by the trust to respond to specific site-related concerns, such as the height, his team responded in barely perceptible ways.

It might be inevitable that Lucas is headed to Chicago in the wake of the Presidio rebuff. But San Francisco's chances would have been better if Lee et al had turned their charms on Lucas right away.

Long-range bayside plan

In the wake of Chicago's coup, and the recent decision by voters to require an election whenever there is a desire to raise height limits on land owned by the Port of San Francisco, the city does not need any more finger-pointing. It needs a proactive, long-range bayside plan that balances history and tradition with such 21st century realities as sea level rise and emerging potential of active urban mixed-use waterfronts.

If this happens, City Hall won't be stuck hoping that yet another billionaire shows up with yet another big plan for the most stubborn port-owned sites. Rules will be spelled out in advance - and it's a good bet that smart developers will be waiting in line.